The Importance Of Iron For Your Health

Not many people give a lot of thought to the importance of iron for your health, and they still do not consider it when they begin to feel run down or lethargic. Too many times, people who feel exhausted think that they just need more rest, when in reality, they are lacking in iron. Besides fatigue, other symptoms of low iron include dypsnea, restless leg syndrome, and anemia. There is even a strange symptom that is called, pica.

When you are resting, restless leg syndrome causes your legs to feel uncomfortable, as if they need to be in action even as the rest of your body is trying to rest. Sometimes, the legs will twitch, or move involuntarily, almost as if they belong to an entirely different person. People who suffer this way find that, rather than sleeping, they need to get out of bed and walk around to relieve the anxious feelings in their legs. The cause of this may not be known, but what is known is that those who suffer from it claim that the symptoms subside after an increase of iron into their diet.

Fatigue from not having enough iron manifests itself in what is known as, anemia. This occurs when somebody has gone for so long with low iron levels that their red blood cell production is no longer effective. Dypsnea also occurs due to the lack of red cell production brought about by a constant lack of iron. Dypsnea will cause a lack of breath in the people who suffer from it. Because the red blood cell count is so low, oxygen becomes difficult for the body to create. This may also lead to sweatiness, and sometimes even heart failure.

People with low iron levels in their bodies may also experience pica. This is a term that refers to the condition that drives somebody to crave strange items that are not considered edible. Because the body craves iron, sometimes, people who are lacking in their iron levels will try to eat chalk, soil, or other things they are not meant to consume.

A deficiency of iron can also cause excessive bleeding in woman who are menstruating, and this is because the blood is almost too thin to clot. If you do think you are lacking iron, consult with your doctor. Do not panic and start ingesting unnatural amounts of iron. Often, simple adjustments in your diet is all that is needed.